Reflection & Projection

Over the course of the semester, I learned a lot about myself and my approach to creativity. I realized that more often than not, I will create a piece of artwork because I can't get something off of my mind. This may seem like an obvious chain of events, but I feel it has sometimes hindered my creativity rather than helped it along. Being able to separate my emotions and thoughts from my artistic interests has been an invaluable lesson for me. Realizing that things I need to address in my own life don't necessarily need to be actualized through a creative outlet, but might be better suited for other means of psychological analysis is important. I think making art to help one through a life situation is wonderful, and is in fact the reason I pursued art so long. But for IP, I let my need for that outlet prevent me from creating what I really wanted to make. In the end I wound up limiting myself from all of the tools I was craving. This year, I am turning over a new leaf in my IP. I am taking the advice from my review and putting my best foot forward. What resonated with me the most from the feedback I received was to ask myself how I will approach my project having lifted all limitations. After reflecting on this all of break, I've come to the conclusion that the limitations will present themselves as I go along. I will have to make sound and sculpture act as one, work within a repertoire of sounds and voices, and tie everything in with contextual relevance. the difference now is that these limitations are natural, whereas before I was boxing myself in with the materials I had forced myself to comply with. This year I am free, and excited to face each new challenge as it presents itself.

Wrapping Up

It's incredibly hard to believe that this semester is coming to a close. I don't exactly feel like I'm at the point I'd always imagined I'd be at this point of IP, but I think it's just one of those things you can't plan...no matter how hard you try. This week I put together my December Review (yikes!) presentation. I went through and began to edit a lot of my second interview that I did over break (excerpt below). I worked a lot on my sculpture and it's ALMOST ready to paint. Michaels unfortunately ran out of the fences I was cutting to use as shingles, so the last few rows will have to wait. I discovered that I have a lot of thinking and planning and work to do over break! I hope I can enter next semester with newfound clarity and confidence in my project. For next week I will conquer my panel review and feel like I've closed the chapter of sculpture one...at least for a little while.

Building Blocks

I think these last two weeks have been really important for my project. I've made a lot of progress-a new interview and almost finished with my sculpture. Although the process is slow, it's given me time to think about what I want to get out of it, and where I see all of this work going. The interviews that I have done don't truly capture what I want to convey. Rather, I think it's how I piece them together that will tell a more accurate story through my eyes. Next week I want to feel more confident in what that story is.

Details

I regretfully forgot to take a picture before I left my studio yesterday, but should be able to add one sometime tomorrow. This week was all about the details. I went on the hunt for all sorts of wooden objects that could be cut up into pieces I'd need to make my sculpture come to life. The tips of tiny picket fences and craft sticks become shingles, and balsa wood rectangles cut to size are window shades and siding accents. I got to work, putting little details into my sculpture, and getting it ready to be primed and painted in the very near future. I ran into some trouble with gluing things down, so I spent some time seeking alternative methods to attaching some of the little details. I've learned that these details make a huge difference, and I feel excited about my work again. I was having a bit of a rough week due to some personal things I am working through and some of the terrifying things happening in the world right now. I am starting to discover that sometimes channeling that emotion into my work instead of running away from it, can often be the best thing for me. For next week, I plan to have this sculpture finished, and hopefully set a time to meet with my 2nd family. My third family, I plan to interview in Dallas over Thanksgiving weekend. It is just a father and daughter that live together, so I think that will be an interesting addition to the "neighborhood". Thinking farther down the line to December reviews, I would like to have one sculpture and sound piece totally finished, and another sculpture and two sound pieces in progress.

A Quick Update

This week was spent mostly getting my grant proposal together. I spent some time talking to potential interviewees too, and did several sketches to plan for my sculpture. I've been working on putting together my first sound piece, and it is coming together nicely. I feel like the sound I have is still missing something. I am currently hunting for that something. I don't feel like I discovered anything new this week-just lack of something new. Next week, I am going full steam ahead and hopefully making some important breakthroughs for my process.

Attachment

This week was devoted mostly to aesthetics. I built the skeleton for my sculpture (I apologize for forgetting to take pictures!) and made sketches for various options I'm exploring for its completion. After my crit, I started to think more seriously about the connection between the sculptures and the sound, and I think the connections will become more apparent as the piece progresses. I spent some time writing my grant proposal as well, which was helpful in honing in on what makes my work compelling to an audience. This week I realized how important imagery is going to be in all aspects of my project. I think that the imagery from the sound and the imagery in the sculpture don't need to be a perfect match, but they need to correlate in some way that makes sense to the viewer, even subconsciously. For next week, I am gathering the rest of the interviews to finish the first sound piece. I also hope to finish basic construction of my first sculpture and prime.

Making Moves

The beginning part of the week started with a lot of brainstorming, list-making, and important conversations. Once I realized what specifically I needed (and wanted) to be focusing on, I got to work on form. First purchasing supplies, then sketches, then chipboard models, and finally cutting and sanding the wooden pieces for my first sculpture.

This week was spectacular. I had breakthrough after breakthrough, and feel like I'm in a fantastic place and in a position to just start hammering out work the way I've been itching to since IP began. This week started with some major soul-searching. After a chat with Stephanie and one with Anne, I realized that I had to edit, and I needed to make some major decisions quickly. I couldn't do a functional multi sensory, naturally amplified, abstract sculpture installation about people's lives. Writing it out in a single statement now, it just sounds ludicrous. I made a pros and cons list for doing wither natural amplification, multi sensory work OR abstract sculptures about families. I thought about it a lot, and I had the ultimate realization that this does not have to be the last thing I make. In the end I decided on the abstract sculptures with stories for a number of reasons (which I'll explore in greater detail as my project progresses), keeping in mind that I can return to the other project at any time in my life.
For next week, I hope to get close to the finish line for this first sculpture, line up my next interview, and make arrangements for gathering the remaining sound for this first piece.